WHEELABRATOR UK CONSULTATION PROCESS ON £600M WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT IN WALES

A consultation process into Wheelabrator Technologies’ planned 200,000 tonne per year Parc Adfer waste to energy facility in Wales is to begin this week

According to the company - a subsidiary of Waste Management (NYSE: WM) - residents will be able to ask questions and find out more about the proposed waste to energy facility located in North Wales, as it begins a series of consultations in the area this Friday.

The company explained that the energy recovery facility, which is being proposed for development on a former steelworks site at the Deeside Industrial Park, has been named Parc Adfer to reflect how it will help North Wales recover energy from its non-recyclable waste (Adfer meaning to ‘recover’ or ‘restore’ in Welsh).

The planned project was recently awarded preferred bidder status by the North Wales Waste Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP). (See WMW story)

Wheelabrator said that its proposals for the site go beyond the typical requirements of the already stringent regulations, and that it has already committed to introducing additional air quality monitoring for the site, providing added assurance for local communities.

The company added that the project will create around 300 jobs during the construction phase and around 35 full time jobs once the facility is operational, as well as a significant number of opportunities for supply chain and business services.

“This is our first opportunity to talk to local people about the technology we’re proposing and explain how we intend to build and operate this facility in a safe and responsible way,” explained Gary Aguinaga, vice president, UK operations at Wheelabrator.

“We want people to ask us questions - because that means we can start to address some of the concerns that have been raised,” he added.

According to Wheelabrator, the project represents an investment of between £600 to £800 million over its estimated 25 year lifespan.